How rare is the name Bill?

77,823 people in the United States have the first name Bill, about 1 in 3,881. It ranks #680 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BILL

#680

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
77,823
About
1 in 3,881
This common or more
64%
Who bears it

Of the 77,823 people named Bill, 84.2% reported their origin as White, 4.6% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 4.4% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.6%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Bill peaked in 1947, when 4,688 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1947
Births that year
4,688
In 2025*
18 ▼100%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 161,190 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Bill by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #141. The largest share of babies named Bill, 37.6%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1880s#460600
1890s#506789
1900s#4151,523
1910s#3606,711
1920s#21022,495
1930s#14132,525
1940s#15737,848
1950s#29223,909
1960s#28125,184
1970s#7525,225
1980s#1,5301,820
1990s#2,4541,153
2000s#3,749845
2010s#6,334423
2020s#9,307140
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–2715.2%
Silent Generation 1928–4537.6%
Baby boom 1946–6435.8%
Generation X 1965–807.8%
Millennials 1981–961.5%
Generation Z 1997–120.8%
2013 and later0.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Bill is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Bill has been most common in Oklahoma (3.7×), Wyoming (3×), and Montana (2.9×), and least common in New Hampshire (0.07×).

154,327 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Bill

#678 Johnathan · 78,090#679 Franklin · 78,051#681 Miles · 77,427#682 Skylar · 77,387

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Bill, most common first.

#320 Billy · 173,433#9,482 Billi · 1,463#29,154 Bille · 305#30,312 Bil · 288#52,900 Billa · 104

Also a last name

As a last name, Bill ranks #6,995 of 156,621, with 4,630 people. See Bill as a last name

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